Bryan Preston of Hannaford supermarkets, left, talks with job seekers during a job fair at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, N.Y., in April 2014. / Mike Groll AP

by Doug Carroll, USA TODAY

by Doug Carroll, USA TODAY

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as claims for jobless aid continued to hover near pre-recession levels.

First time claims for unemployment benefits fell 6,000 from the previous week to 312,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to 311,750.

Economists had estimated 314,000 claims, according to the median forecast in Action Economics survey. Weekly totals generally have been trending in the low 300,000s since winter.

Unemployment benefits are a gauge of layoffs so the latest figures signal that fewer workers are losing their jobs and add to other evidence that the climate for hiring is improving.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that employers added 217,000 jobs in May as the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.3%.

Claims have been trending down over the past year and the current numbers are close to those seen in the years before the recession. From 2004 through 2006. the average for weekly unemployment claims was about 329,000, according to Labor Department data and Haver Analytics.

Late in the recession in the first half of 2009, claims steadily ran over 600,000 a week.